Niranjana, Melissa and Andy

A couple months ago, we decided that we would celebrate Niranjana's next birthday with a trip to Disneyland instead of a party.

As her birthday is in January and generally on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, for two years in a row we've had a great turnout of preschool kids to Garland's Gymnastics (http://www.garlandsgymnastics.com/index.php), where the birthday girl gets to do the bungee (http://www.youtube.com/andyperdue#p/u/4/-ixUjGXyQw4).

It's been a lot of fun, but as Niranjana goes into kindergarten and prepares to turn 7, it is the right time to try some Disney magic.

During our daily debrief in the car, Niranjana said one of the boys ("J") had hurt her feelings by saying "you're funny." He said it in a rude way, she complained.

No sympathy from me. "Well, you are funny," I said. "You have a great sense of humor and we like you that way. He probably meant it as a compliment."

Two examples from yesterday.

In the morning, she was whining about having to feed the cats. This is one of the small jobs she is supposed to do to earn money for Disneyland. Granted, it's about 25 cents a day, but it's money.

Going to a year-round Montessori preschool/daycare means that Niranjana is always in school. Lucky girl! Really, it looks like fun. They do group time at 9 a.m., have a routine of "works" and "P.E. (running laps outside, yoga stretches, jumping jacks, tag) until 3 p.m., story time, show-and-tell, and "free play" until I show up. Yes, there are even arts and crafts involved.

Niranjana has been going to Sunday School since late November. She moved up last week from the preschool room to the Adventure Club, which is Kindergarten through Second Grade. Part of this "graduation" process included receiving an NIV Adventure Bible for Kids. This is a big, heavy book (OK, an actual Bible) that is meant to last Niranjana through elementary school.

Two related funnies from yesterday:

People who don't know us well watch Niranjana run around or otherwise do her thing — at a park, or at the grocery store — and we get remarks like "she's so cute" or "my, she has a lot of energy."

Yes to both, I say. She's cute 95 percent of the time.

Yesterday we got that other 5 percent.

We're smart enough now to know these episodes are tied to a lack of protein, lack of sleep, and/or irrational belief that we've been paying more attention to her friends than we have to her. We usually can spot them coming and head them off with a "yogurt tube" (Go-Gurt).

I inadvertently turned into a Twilight fan, thanks to my director, mother-in-law and various friends. Then I sucked Andy into it with the two movies. And now I've peer pressured a bunch of my friends into it by picking Twilight for my book club meeting.

So now, in addition to Harry Potter and Star Wars, pop-culture references to vampires and werewolves are part of our regular conversation. This goes nicely with Niranjana's occasional imaginative "magic" play.

But maybe I've gone too far.

I asked Niranjana the other day if she'd like to be magic.

The next-door neighbor girl is about to turn 3 and she has suddenly become more interesting. It helps that M's 30-minute window of post-supper availability coincides with our arrival home from school/work, allowing for a little outside play before M goes in for her bath and we go in for dinner.

Today was extra blustery, however, and I warned Niranjana that it might be too windy for M to play outside.

"Don't worry Mom," the intrepid girl answered. "I won't blow away."

So she ran next door and knocked on the front door, which was answered by the toddler.

Niranjana was showing me a dragon she colored at preschool and noticed the inside of its mouth was still white.

"Hold on a second, let me trick that out for you," she said, grabbing the crayons.

Trick it out?? Where did she learn that?

"From Brother. He knows everything."

Niranjana's imagination gets a little long-winded sometimes. The teachers have tried to impress upon her that a story has a beginning, a middle and an end. The concept of wrapping things up and keeping things succinct and to the point has not sunk in. This does not bode well for a career as a newspaper copy editor.

Oh, there's also been a little bit of lethal flair to some of her stories lately. We're not worried, although we're watching it and definitely aren't encouraging it.

Scooby Doo really is educational. Niranjana now knows the appropriate use of the word "negatory."

I found this out when I told her we're having tortellini and brussels sprouts for dinner.

"No way, negatory, not me," she declared with a grin. "I'm having my own dinner."

Negatory, I said.

Thanks, Shaggy.